Good morning everyone. Today I want to tell you a little about what I like to call my "go to lens". This is the lens that I keep on my camera most of the time because it covers a pretty good range, and it does it well. The Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 is in my opinion(and in the opinion of a lot of well known photographers) a great lens. It's range goes from 17mm out to 50mm(obviously) with an aperture of f/2.8 throughout that range. From reading earlier many of you know that the wider or larger the aperture available, the more light you can let in. When it comes to zoom lenses f/2.8 is about the maximum aperture you will achieve. There are some lenses that go a little lower but they are usually very exotic and very expensive.
When I was in the market for a lens in this focal range I had a few options. Of course Nikon offers the Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 which is a wonderful lens. It has great image quality, a fast auto focus and great ergonomics. The only downside to it is that's it's about $800 more expensive than the Tamron. Sigma also makes a 17-50 f/2.8 that is very similar to the Tamron in Image quality, build, and price. The reason that I chose the Tamron was because of first hand reviews from friends that actually owned the lens. They gave nothing but positive reviews on the image quality, durability, and build. The only caveat that I have with it is with the auto focus system. Not so much the system itself because let me tell you that this is a very fast focusing lens. No my only problem is the lack of a clutch on the focus ring. On the Nikon you don't have to switch anything to adjust the focus manually. Sometimes you just want to tweak it just a bit, and with the Nikon you grab the focus ring and the clutch disengages and you make your adjustment. With the Tamron you have to physically flip a switch located just above the release switch on the left hand side. The switch itself is easy to access and make the adjustment, but I would like to have a clutch instead. Other than that, I can't say anything bad about it. At $400 it's a steal. If you do weddings or some indoor sports, in low light, this is the lens for you. It's offered in Nikon, Canon, Sony, and Pentax so no matter what brand you shoot, they have one for you. Oh and I almost forgot, for you Nikon people shooting with a D40,D40x,or a D60 the Nikon version of this lens has a built in AF motor so it will work with your cameras. That's it for me for now. See you Tomorrow. Jason
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